My mom is on Lexapro, 10mg, but the pharmacy sent her Citalopram Hbr, 20 mg. Is this the same thing?

Answer 1

Brand Name: Lexapro
Generic Name: escitalopram

Drug Class And Mechanism: Escitalopram is an oral drug that is used for treating depression and generalized anxiety disorder. It works by affecting neurotransmitters in the brain, the chemical messengers that nerves use to communicate with one another. Neurotransmitters are made and released by nerves and then travel to other nearby nerves where they attach to receptors on the nerves. Some neurotransmitters that are released do not bind to receptors and are taken up by the nerves that produced them. This is referred to as "reuptake."

Many experts believe that an imbalance of neurotransmitters is the cause of depression. Escitalopram prevents the reuptake of one neurotransmitter, serotonin, by nerves, an action which results in more serotonin in the brain to attach to receptors. CHEMICALLY, ESCITALPRAM (LEXAPRO) IS VERY SIMILAR TO CITALOPRAM. Both are in the class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class that also includes fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil) and sertraline (Zoloft).

Prescribed For: lexapeo OR Escitalopram is approved for the treatment of depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Drugs in the SSRI class also have been studied in persons with obsessive-compulsive disorders and panic disorders. The usual starting dose of escitalopram is 10 mg once daily.

This information can be seen at weblink -
http://www.answers.com/Lexapro and
http://www.answers.com/topic/citalopram

Against prescription of LEXAPRO 10 mg, CITALPRAM 20 mg. can be given and both drugs are similar. This is the reason Pharmacy has sent yu Citalopram, as both are anti-depresent and can be gven. Do not worry - take my word and give. You may also just phone your doctor and get his approval also...

Answer 2

A great resources on drugs that I have used as a Pharmacy Technician (PhT) is the US Health & Human Services website. Click on Drug Information then click on MedlinePlus. It's a great resource.
Citalopram is the generic name of Celexa
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a699001.html
Lexapro's generic name is Escitalopram
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a603005.html

While they are not the exact same medicines, they treat the same diseases. Every pharmacy has a drug list (RxList) that they have....many pharmacies do not stock all drugs, but instead will stock similar drugs that treat the same thing. Thus, chances are that the pharmacy you took your mom's prescription to do not have Lexapro/Escitalopram but instead carry Celexa/Citalopram. Hospitals do this, too. The drugs are similar in that they treat the same disease states and often have the same side effects. They work in the body basically the same way. The dosage is probably different because Citalopram takes more mg than Escitalopram to meet the required effects. The pharmacist would be aware of this difference and make the appropriate adjustments (the pharmacy computers also make the approprate adjustments so that the pharmacy technicians know, too....since pharmtechs are generally the ones that actually put the information into the computer and also place the medicine in the bottles....a PhT would check with the pharmacist to make sure it is correct and would not act without the pharmacist's permission). Technically this should have been discussed between your mother (or whoever filled the prescription) and the pharmacist.
Many people think that if the name is different that it isn't the same drug. The generic name of a drug is the name that it'll go by in the registry, but the brand name is the name that it will be marketed to the public. But they are the same drug (and often they are produced by the exact same pharmaceutical company). The only difference is the price (the brand name costs more because of advertising costs....plus this is how a lot of the pharmaceutical companies earn some profit that keep them in business while doing research) Otherwise Celexa and Citalopram are chemically the same drug just as Lexapro and Escitalopram are chemically the same drug. Chances are Escitalopram and Citalopram are very chemically close since they do the same things. There may be a slight chemical difference....thus the need for a higher dosage. When a company later realized they could decrease the dosage amount by tweaking the chemical make-up of the drug they'll often do this and then patent it as a "new" drug. There are some instances where drugs that had some positive side effects on treating other diseases were "rebranded" with another name for treating those side effects while retaining the first brand name for treating the original disease state. Same drug....same generic name...two different brand names. A good way to know if the drugs are similar is to look at the suffix of the generic name....in this case -opram.....companies follow certain rules when creating the generic name.

Anyways, hope that helps. And if you have other questions about drugs just visit the website I linked above. It's one of many really great resources. Or you can always by a PDR (Physicians Drug Reference) Book at your local book store. It can be handy, too. And if you have any questions about a medicine that you or someone you know is taking never hesitate to ask your pharmacist. She/he will be happy to answer any questions you have and can give you other resources that are available if you want to learn more.

Answer 3

sort of.

Let me explain the difference between the two drugs. Imagine if you had a box with 100 red mittens in it. Half would be left-handed, half would be right-handed. Drugs are also left and right-handed. They sometimes behave a little differently.

Citalopram is a 50:50 mixture of left and right-handed drug. Lexapro is just the left-handed drug. So 20 mg of citalopram has 10 mg of Lexapro in it. It also has 10 mg of the right-handed version (which has no name).

The insurance probably demanded the change because a 10 mg Lexapro tablet is about 5 times the price of a 20 mg citalopram, because citalopram is a generic. Lexapro is not.

By the way, I have reviewed the other answers and they all have partially or completely wrong answers.

Answer 4

I just want to make you sure that the ONLY right answers is from jloertscher

I am pharmacist too and my patient used to get Citalopram Hbr, 20 mg instead of Lexapro


PS:
Since i found that most of people nowaday know the big big anvantage of Generic drugs so i have open a generic pharmacy online store lot of prescription fill there since on

Answer 5

I may be wrong but I believe Citalopram was the earlier and slightly different version of what is now called lexapro - they're not exactly the same.

I was on Citalopram but then another medication was developed called Escitalopram; and I think that's called Lexapro in the United States.

Your mother should definitely speak to the pharmacy and if necessary her prescribing doctor.

Answer 6

"I'm confused about England and Britain. They seem to sometimes be used interchangeably. " - That would likely be incorrect then, hence they have different names to start with. If it has a different name then it likely means something else. In simple terms... See very basic map image link below that explains the following. Scotland = Scotland England = England Wales = Wales Great Britain (or Britian) = big island on the right Great Britain (or Britian) = where Scotland, Wales and England are all found only Ireland = smaller island on the left Ireland = where Republic of Ireland (Eire) and Northern Ireland are found only UK = a country of countries UK = Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Republic of Ireland is not part of UK. They left many years ago. Hence there's two Irelands due to a split of differences. Some of the stuff you are writing is wrong. Getting them wrong could cause offence. But this is the correct place to ask these things and to learn. So well done.

Answer 7

No they are not the same. Citalopram is Celexa which is a d-isomer of lexapro ( mirror image in biochemical structure) Insurance companies are trying to pass it on as the same since Citalopram (Celexa) is now generic and cheaper. No they are not the same.

Answer 8

The generic name for Lexapro is Escitalopram. It is the active metabolite of Citalopram. They are essentially the same thing, but they cannot be interchanged. They are different drugs.

Answer 9

They are not really the same, but could work the same. However, 10 mg is definitely not 20 mg, anymore than 10 dollars is 20 dollars.

Answer 10

I'm not a doctor. But I do take lexapro and as far as i know... lexapro has no generic form. Call the pharmacist or your doctor and ask before she takes any pills.